By Jim Heffernan
I sure find the world we live in to be very confusing, maybe I’m just old. I’ve always had a reverent view of “truth” but in present-day America, everybody seems to have a “roll your own” idea of what truth is. Sadly, there are myriad “echo chambers” that are smoking the same truth as you.
I’m convinced part of the problem is that we are too caught up in the here-and-now. A large part of the dumbing down of America has been kicking “impractical” subjects like the humanities to the curb. Yes, science and math are important, but there is also a lot to be learned from history. It doesn’t necessarily repeat, but it surely does rhyme.
I found a toy WABAC machine at the Goodwill and couldn’t resist. It didn’t do anything, but it was only $5. I took it home, put in new batteries and pushed the button. Lights flashed and a mechanical voice intoned, “Question Please.” I asked, “How do we get out of this mess?” Lights flashed for a long time and finally a female voice said, “The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny-Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”
At that point, the machine went dead and I was stuck with the mystery of the message. I was left with the questions of: “Is it real?” Who said it and when and where? And what the heck is calumny?”
Calumny is a high-octane word for slander. It turns out it is a real quote that is taken out of a speech* by made by Margaret Chase Smith, the Republican Senator from Maine, on June 1, 1950.
I was 4 years old at the time, so I don’t remember it at all. I was forced to dive into the books to give meaning and context to the message.
It seems the summer of 1950 was marked by an election season where Republicans were frantic to regain power after being out of the Whitehouse for 16 years. Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin, was gaining a lot of fame and notoriety by manufacturing an atmosphere of fear and distrust by warning the public incessantly about the “red menace” that threatened the nation.
Could fanning the flames of fear about an imagined threat be a standard ploy for Republicans?
Opposed to the isolationist, paranoid wing represented by McCarthy was Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower was a highly intelligent man who governed himself by a strict sense of morality. Thankfully, Eisenhower prevailed. McCarthy was censured and exposed as a mean, spiteful fraud. Eisenhower went on to serve two terms as President and is distinguished by creating our Interstate Highway system and by operating with a balanced budget for three of his years in office. His feat of three balanced budgets has not been repeated.
Now, 74 years later, the Republican party seems at a similar point. This time around, the menace is immigration. Not that illegal immigration isn’t a problem, but I surely think its menace is highly exaggerated. This time around, the voices of reason like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney have been pushed to the side. Donald Trump seems to call the shots now and I don’t think that’s a good thing for America. It’s my hope that this November will bury Donald Trump in electoral defeat, and he can assume his place in history alongside Joseph McCarthy.
Maybe then, sanity will return to the Republican party.
As aways, discussion welcome at codger817@gmail.com
* It’s a 15 minute speech known as “The Declaration of Conscience”. It can be found at link below. It’s well worth reading the entire speech and I think the parallels to today are striking.
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Speeches_Smith_Declaration.htm
It was co-signed by Oregon’s senator Wayne Morse who represented Oregon from 1944 to 1968. He served 8 years as a Republican, 4 years as an independent, and 12 years as a Democrat.
